COLUMBUS, Ohio — What a coincidence that ESPN/ABC switched out of Blackhawks-Blues to Rangers-Bruins at 1 p.m. on Black Friday in the network’s first over-the-air national telecast since gaining NHL rights this season.
What, the NHL and network didn’t see the upside in showcasing the rotten Chicago organization that the league so proudly presented as a quasi-house franchise through the 2010s, creating as many national events as possible to cram the Blackhawks down our throats?
Now, not.
Guess this is not one that could readily be brushed aside by citing “off-ice distractions.”
Meanwhile, Bob Murray became the latest NHL-affiliated employee to resign in disgrace when he stepped aside last week as the Ducks’ general manager following revelations of a history of psychologically abusive behavior to co-workers.
Of course, just as with the Blackhawks, when the Wirtz ownership knew nothing of what was going on inside their fiefdom, the Samuelis had no idea what was going on inside their organization on the West Coast. Of course not. Why would they?
Apparently we are all supposed to believe that these one-percenters made their fortunes by being ignorant of their respective operations and just handing over all the responsibility to salaried employees.
Sure.
Who ownzzzz the NHL?
Why, as always, the owners.
I’m not sure why the Ducks’ search for a general manager — or president of hockey ops — would not start with Kevin Weekes.
And just wondering whether Jeff Gorton has the imprimatur of Sixth Avenue, which for years has seemed like a cockamamie precondition for getting back into the league.
George Parros wants the job in Anaheim, we’re told, and who knows, maybe this is one post that the VP of player safety would actually be good at.
The very worthy Class of 2020 will enter the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday. The inductions of Jarome Iginla, Doug Wilson, Kevin Lowe, Marian Hossa, Kim St-Pierre and Ken Holland were delayed by a year because of the pandemic.
But though the selection committee has another chance to get it right a year from now by reversing the unaccountable omission of Alexander Mogilny, it will also be time to recognize Patrik Elias, perhaps the most underrated great player of the 21st Century.
There will be a campaign for Henrik and Daniel Sedin as the twins approach their first year of eligibility, and I am all for these incomparably inseparable (or is that, inseparably incomparable?) athletes gaining their sport’s highest honor, which would be commensurate to the honor the Swedes brought to their game.
But it should not come at the expense of No. 26, the only forward in Devils history to have his number retired. For though Elias’ regular-season stats exceed the Sedins’ by a hair or two, he also was among the best two-way and defensive forwards in the league for more than a decade; he sacrificed at least 15 points a season to play within the Devils’ stringent dictates; and he moved from left wing to center the last five or six seasons of his career because that’s what his coaches required.
Indeed, Elias has per-game and quantified numbers that are just about equal to Hossa, who swept in on his first year of eligibility. And though Hossa is a no-doubter, he was a support player on his and Chicago’s three Stanley Cups, while Elias was the best forward on the Devils’ 2000 and 2003 Cup champions. The Czech (if the appellation fits) should not be overlooked.
Who had the Devils — and without Jack Hughes — being the most exciting team in our little neighborhood?
And how is it that Dawson Mercer is making the most impact of any 20-and-under in the region, and by far, and without any of the angst and drama attached to the young’uns on the other side of the river?
Spot Check. Elite Eight: 1. Carolina; 2. Calgary; 3. Washington; 4. Florida; 5. Edmonton; 6. Toronto; 7. Minnesota; 8. St. Louis.
So through Friday’s games, Jonathan Toews, Blake Wheeler, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Kyle Palmieri, Zach Parise and Jakub Voracek have combined to score as many goals as Ryan Callahan, who hasn’t played since 2018-19.
And Palmieri, by the way, has scored two goals in 28 regular-season games since coming to the Island in advance of last year’s deadline.
The Kraken: More interesting as a concept than as a team. Discuss.
John Tortorella, Rangers head coach in 2012: Marian Gaborik must block shots.
John Tortorella, TV guy in 2021: Connor McDavid must change his game in the playoffs.
Finally, it’s great to see that Rick Nash will become the first Blue Jacket to have his number retired. Excellent player, terrific guy, a far better Ranger than most recall, but his Broadway legacy is tarnished by his lack of productivity in the playoffs. Still, The Big Easy’s 2014-15 was as good a season as any Rangers winger has had since Jaromir Jagr’s historic 2005-06, and that includes Artemi Panarin’s 2019-20.
Call me crazy, though, but I’d say scheduling the Nash No. 61 jersey retirement for a March game against the Bruins, for whom Nash played the final 23 games of his career (including the playoffs), instead of in January against the Rangers, for whom the winger played nearly six seasons, just might have something to do with Columbus president John Davidson’s disdain for the New York organization.
But don’t quote me on that.
